Udoka provides insurance policy

MINNEAPOLIS — Ime Udoka returned to the Spurs on Wednesday and found little had changed in the year he’d been away except for the view from the team bus.

In his first tour of duty with the Spurs, in 2007-08 and 2008-09, Udoka rode in the front, ceding primary real estate in the back to elder statesman such as Bruce Bowen, Brent Barry and Michael Finley.

“I used to sit up front with all the younger guys,” said Udoka, who signed a veteran minimum deal to return to the team just before Wednesday’s 113-109 overtime win at Minnesota. “Now, I’m in the back with the vets.”

Udoka’s back-of-the-bus stature is one of the primary reasons he’s back with the Spurs and second-year project Danny Green was waived Tuesday.

With the Spurs thin at small forward behind Richard Jefferson, and the coaching staff wary about overloading Manu Ginobili so early in the season, coach Gregg Popovich preferred a seasoned player that he could trust in that role.

Enter the 33-year-old Udoka, who not only has six NBA seasons under his belt, but remains intimately familiar with the Spurs’ system.

“He’s someone I can put in the basketball game and feel confident he knows what’s going on,” Popovich said. “In our situation now, he gives us great insurance that we can have another body to put on the floor.”

After the Spurs declined to re-sign him after the 2008-09 season, Udoka moved to Sacramento for one mostly miserable campaign. Out of a job heading into this season, he was more than happy to return to his old club when the opportunity arose.

Udoka, who worked out for the Spurs last week in San Antonio, flew in late Tuesday night from his hometown of Portland in order to make the game at Minnesota.

“They’re familiar with me, and I’m familiar with the system,” Udoka said. “They’re already rolling. I just want to come in and try to help.”

Like a good neighbor: According to Popovich, Udoka comes essentially as Manu insurance.

Forced into double duty at backup small forward after rookie James Anderson went down with a fractured foot, Ginobili was averaging a career-high 32 minutes, 47 seconds per game heading into Wednesday.

“I don’t want to end up overplaying Manu,” Popovich said. “Over time, if we continued this, we could very well end up overplaying Tony (Parker) and Manu, just to keep pace. I want to make sure I don’t do that.”

Gut punch: When Ginobili collapsed in a heap in front of the Spurs’ bench late in regulation, Popovich initially thought the worst.

“I didn’t know whether he had destroyed a knee or ankle or broke a rib or what the hell happened,” Popovich said. “I was thinking about who I was going to substitute, and all of a sudden he popped up.”

Turned out, Ginobili had just taken an elbow to the breadbasket while fighting with Kevin Love for a rebound and had the wind knocked out of him. Popovich called time out to let Ginobili catch his breath, and he stayed in the game.